As promised

The journey from Kerry to Bled was rather arduous, to say the least. A five hour drive from Kerry to Dublin was followed by a 5am rising, a taxi to the airport, one flight to London, a second flight to Klagenfurt, two trains and another taxi ride until we got to our destination. The taxi driver got quite excited, when he heard our destination, though. “Villa Istra! Are you famous? Villa Istra is really special!” Apparently only the rich and famous stay there – and us, of course. I had to admit, it was rather splendid.

The wedding day started out cloudy, but luckily brightened up soon. After getting ready (especially the most beautiful flower girl in the world), the proceedings got underway. The ceremony itself took place in the church on the island, which is as romantic a setting as it gets, really.











Afterwards, Lola and Shea got some rest on a bench, only to be turned into an impromptu attraction for Japanese tourists. Suddenly there were more … and more!

The wedding dinner was held in the fantastic surroundings of Bled castle. Considering half the guests were Italian, and half Irish (plus some from Canada, New Zealand, Nepal, Slovenia, and, as Gaga pointed out in his speech, the Kingdom of Kerry), I expected the Italians to be civilised and the Irish to be the drunken rowdy crowd. Imagine my surprise, as it was the other way round, at least initially. By 1 am or so both parties had found a common level. A great time was had by all, and the kids stayed up until late. Cian eventually fell asleep, and missed the wedding cake, much to his chagrin.

We stayed in Bled for 4 days, before we took the bus to Ljubljana, Slovenia’s capital. It’s a small city for a capital, but then again, Slovenia is a small country. Shea’s favourite place was the dragon bridge. He insisted on crossing it as often as we could. We also had time for a day tour into the Podojna caves in the south of the country. The photo doesn’t really give a proper impression of the place. Take it from me, it’s breathtakingly beautiful and well worth a visit, should you ever find yourself in the vicinity.


After only two days we moved on again and crossed the border into Austria. Our next destination was Graz, not because we were terribly keen on visiting it, but because it was a convenient stop, half-way between Ljubljana and Vienna, our next destination, but with a flight for the children and grandparents to return home directly. As it so happens, many years ago I was born just 50 miles away from Graz. But my family moved away when I was only 2, and never returned. Nevertheless, I was expected to be the tourist guide for the rest of the troupe; Nana seemed to think that the bare fact that I was born not too far away from there automatically made me an expert on the local sights. I didn’t know the place at all, but used a run on the first morning as a scouting mission. I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only do they have a very beautiful old town, but the setting around the central hill is spectacular. And not to be outdone by the old buildings, some very imaginative modern architecture can be found as well. The Friendly Alien was Shea’s favourite – though it might not be to everyone’s taste.






Really, I don’t know how Niamh had managed it, but somehow she had persuaded her mother to take the children back to Dublin with her while the two of us spent four days in Vienna, where we had met 14 years ago. Everyone who had heard the plan had predicted that Niamh would return pregnant. That was true – but not quite in the way they had anticipated. The biggest surprise in Vienna was our old student’s residence. What used to be a rather run-down building is now a stunningly posh designer hotel, including a spanky restaurant. We didn’t eat there though, our budget didn’t allow it. Vienna is a stunningly beautiful city. The inner part is so full of palaces (or palais, as they call them) that you walk past less impressive building that in most other settings would be an attraction themselves. Even the museums are stunning. Well, after 4 days of that, we took out leave and returned home (via yet another country, Slovakia, because our flight went direct from Bratislava to Dublin).

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Running: I did 10 miles yesterday, on very heavy legs. That double header really knocked the stuffing out of me. Most people wouldn’t realise just how tough a workout it is, until you try one yourself. I followed it up with 8 miles today, and the legs were still stiff and heavy, at least initially. On the way back, as I was running along the shore of Caragh Lake, I noticed a guy in a boat ahead of me, slow enough to make it catchable but fast enough to be challenging. I chased it for the next 2 miles, until I got ahead. And just as it looked like I would have to return home on my own, I spotted a runner ahead of me on the road. Road kill! How exciting! This guy ran a lot faster than most people I see on these roads. In fact, I really had to strain to chase him, and got down to about 7:00 pace. I know, I know, that’s childish, and the other guy probably didn’t even realise that I was there, so it wasn’t even a race, but I had fun anyway. I slowly drew closer, but on the last climb towards home, he stopped running and walked, I was almost disappointed, and of course I caught him in no time. Nevertheless it was a fun way to end the run.

16 Jun: 10 miles, 1:19:57, 7:59 pace, avg. HR 151
17 Jun: 8 miles, 59:28, 7:26 pace, avg. HR 157 (splits pace 7:38 and 7:13)

Weekly mileage: 66 (due to Tuesday’s 0)